Tonight, the New Jersey Devils (46-19-8) close out their season series against the New York Islanders (37-28-9). The two teams have played some interesting games this season, with the first one being dominated by New Jersey and the second by the Islanders. The second game also had the longest shift since shift length was tracked recorded by Jack Hughes.

The Devils hold a record of 46-19-8 and are second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Lightning are 37-28-9 and sit fourth in the Metropolitan.

Not a ton of clarity today on #NJDevils am skate lines…

Last game was 11-7. Today a lot of rotation on McLeod’s line.

Warmup will be the real indicator on what the team will do vs Isles.

Bastian in brackets because highly unlikely he plays, given this is his first practice. pic.twitter.com/Xlqhv4NB3e

— x – Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) March 27, 2023

Projected Lines

New Jersey Devils

Check back just before puck drop to our social media pages for the lineup.

As of now, Vitek Vanecek is the likely starter. As for the rest of the lineup, Nathan Bastian returned to practice but it remains to be seen if he will play.

New York Islanders

Forwards:

Lee-Horvat-Bailey

Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri

Parise-Pageau-Fasching

Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Defensemen:

Pelech-Mayfield

Romanov-Pulock

Bolduc-Dobson

Goaltenders:

Sorokin

Varlamov

What to Watch For

The Season Isn’t Over

Just because the team clinched a playoff spot and reached the 100-point mark on Saturday night doesn’t mean the season is over. After the game on Saturday, Devils captain Nico Hischier said that “We’re here to win.”

That needs to be the mentality with nine games left and a not so difficult schedule (18th toughest per Tankathon). The two toughest games remaining are this Thursday against the Rangers and Saturday against the Bruins.

Playoff Push on the Island

While the Devils have already locked in their spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Islanders are scratching and clawing for points to punch their ticket to the dance. They currently sit at 83 points and hold the first wild card spot.

Their playoff spot seemed to be all but locked up before they fell in consecutive games between to the Blue Jackets and Sabres, while the Penguins had a successful weekend. The Isles have the 14th-toughest schedule the rest of the way according to tankathon. So, it won’t be an easy path for New York especially with star forward Matthew Barzal out for potentially the rest of the regular season.

Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 7:30 PM ET at UBS Arena.